2009 NSW Paper Tiger Catamaran State Championships

[Dave]

The 2009 NSW Paper Tiger Catamaran State Championships were held at Kogarah Bay Sailing Club, on Sydney's Georges River, over the Australia Day long weekend. A fleet of 18 boats competed, including two visitors from Victoria. The NSW boats came from as far as Wagga Wagga, Wollongong and the Central Coast, as well as Sydney.

Competition was intense over the three days of racing, with some demanding conditions providing extra interest. Saturday's 40 degree temperature and shifty, gusty NW breeze was quite a challenge. Sunday's SE breeze was a bit lighter and cooler, but also had some challenging shifts. Monday provided a light and patchy SE breeze that saw a lot of place changing throughout the fleet.

Ian Marcovitch showed incredible consistency given the testing conditions and won four of the seven races, wrapping the series up with a race still to sail. Another pleasing aspect for Marcovitch was that his sails (Redhead Sails) had taken the top four places.

Twenty-times and defending NSW Champion, Garry Williams, also showed his skills in testing conditions, winning two heats and placing second overall.

Kogarah Bay SC did a great job of hosting the event and the members were amazingly hospitable, making us feel incredibly welcome.

The NSW Paper Tiger fleet will now look to the Koonawarra Bay 14ft Catamaran Regatta as the next event in preparation for the big one, the 2009 Maersk Line Paper Tiger Catamaran International Championships, to be held at Koonawarra Bay SC over the Easter weekend. This event will see 30 Australian boats competing against up to 20 New Zealand boats. Check the event website for further details at http://internationals2009.papertigercatamaran.org/

Four NSW boats will be part of the Australian Team, based on their placing in the top ten at the recent Nationals in Victoria. They are Ian Marcovitch, Kim Marcovitch and Wayne Eager.

OVERALL RESULTS

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1. Mojo, Ian Marcovitch (Mannering Park) 1-1-4-1-3-1-3, 10pts

2. Against The Grain, Garry Williams (Wagga Wagga) 4-6-3-9-1-2-1, 17pts

3. Rapture, David Stumbles (Koonawarra Bay) 7-3-2-6-7-6-2, 26pts

4. Broken Wind, Kim Marcovitch (Mannering Park) 8-8-1-11-4-3-6, 30pts

5. Second Wind, Wayne Eager (Koonawarra Bay) 3-9-5-4-6-7-8, 33pts

6. Just Add Water, Alex Craig (Elwood, Victoria) DNF-4-6-3-2-DNF-4, 38pts

7. Johnny B Goode, Jon Pinkerton (Koonawarra Bay) 5-5-15-2-5-10-13, 40pts

8. Pussyfoot, Rohan Nicol (Wagga Wagga) 6-2-=7-8-10-8-10, 41.5pts

9. People Eater, Neil Waterman (Koonawarra Bay) 14-14-=7-7-9-5-5, 47.5pts

10. Re-Entry, Lance Maizey (Concord Ryde) 2-10-9-10-12-14-11, 54pts

11. Characin III, Anthony Williams (Kogarah Bay) 11-11-11-12-8-12-7, 60pts

12. Absolute Power, Cameron Fitzgerald (Wagga Wagga) 10-7-13-15-13-13-14, 70pts

13. Solitaire, Ralph Skea (Koonawarra Bay) DNC-DNC-DNC-5-11-4-15, 73pts

14. Out Of Sight, Bill Arthur (Wagga Wagga) 13-13-DNF-14-17-11-9, 77pts

15. Dipsi Danis, Steve Halliday (Mannering Park) 12-15-14-13-16-9-16, 79pts

16. Watermelon, Garry Craig (Yarrawonga, Victoria) 15-12-10-16-14-16-12, 79pts

17. ?, Steve Levi (Concord Ryde) 9-16-12-17-15-15-17, 84pts

18. Chicken Liver, Des Collins (Mannering Park) DNF-DNS-16-18-18-17-18, 106pts

Regards,

Dave Stumbles

Secretary, NSWPTCA

[tom]

Well done to Ian, some tough competition in that fleet for sure!

I had a first hand show of the speed of the new redheads at our recent SA states, very fast on a reach in the lighter stuff..

Thanks for the report Dave, good luck with your upcoming regatta's. I hope to get back to sailing at a national level soon...